


Venom

by MangoKat



Category: RWBY
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26474203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MangoKat/pseuds/MangoKat
Summary: The humans ruined Tyrian Callows. His entire life he experienced nothing but hatred and pain. The humans enslaved him, tortured him, fractured his mind, but they could never break him. Tyrian is a fighter, and he will survive.Tyrian backstory!
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	Venom

**Author's Note:**

> Authornote:
> 
> Hello everyone!
> 
> This is my very first RWBY fic, and so please be kind! This fic will be very dark, and very violent and so please consider yourself warned. This fic will deal with Tyrian's backstory right up until season seven. Please leave a comment if you liked the chapter! 
> 
> I cannot promise how often I will update this fic since I'm working on several others at the same time, but I will do my best to keep a reasonable schedule!

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Venom**

**Chapter 1**

**Welcome to the Circus**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

  
  


The lights were blinding and hot, but it was better that way. He didn’t have to see the people laughing and jeering at him from the stands. The cage clinked open and he crawled out on all fours, his tail curled underneath him, displaying his fear for all to see. He squeezed his eyes closed and wished he could disappear.

“And now ladies and gentlemen, I bring you your favourite attraction!” a voice boomed out, “The terrifying and disgusting  **hybrids** ! These human impersonators call themselves the Faunus, but we know them to be abominations!”

There were immediate cheers and yells of horror, and the boy curled his tail even tighter, trying to hide from it all.

“All of these disgusting freaks of nature are rare and only seen here at Puce’s Attractions! Tell all your friends, and bring them all to see our monstrosities!”

The crowd cheered loudly in excitement and the ringmaster was quick to continue.

“First we have Ariadne the terrifying spider hybrid! Look at her disgusting eyes and extra limbs! Watch how she climbs!”

Gasps of horror filled the stadium.

“Next we have Flicker, the disgusting moth hybrid! See how her wings terrify even the bravest here! Fly for us, Flicker, show everyone what you can do!”

There was the sound of flapping wings and instantly more gasps of surprise.

“Next we have Sufjan, the truly gruesome centipede hybrid! With an extra 5 vertebrae, look at how fast he can scurry with all his extra arms!”

This time the screams from the audience were almost deafening.

“Next we have Tyrian, the horrifying scorpion hybrid! Watch how dangerous his disgusting tail is!”

Tyrian curled in on himself tighter. The ringmaster immediately gave him a nudge in the side.

“I  **said** , look at his dangerous and disgusting tail!”

Tyrian knew everyone was staring at him and he pulled his tail in as tightly as he could against his body. He received another harder nudge, but he didn’t move.

When the boos began, Tyrian knew he was in trouble.

“Well, it looks like our scorpion is feeling stubborn today, but believe me folks, it will be dealt with later…”

Tyrian swallowed heavily and slowly backed up until he was back in his cage.

“Moving on! Next we have Stag, the slimy and disgusting beetle hybrid! Look at his massive and slimy shell! Great for defense, but it makes him incredibly slow and clumsy!”

Tyrian curled up in the hay and subtly began burrowing down into it. That’s where he remained for the rest of the performance until finally he felt his cage being dragged off stage. He could hear voices whispering around him and hesitantly opened his eyes. The workers were all looking furious and they kept shooting him dirty looks.

“I think the boss might really kill him this time,” he heard one of them whisper, “Disgusting little freak is being uncooperative lately.”

Tyrian’s skin glistened with nervous sweat, and he closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. He listened to the workers clean up behind the stage, and he heard the last of the performances come to an end. When the applause began to fade, he heard the ringmaster the second he stepped behind stage.

“I’ll going to kill him! I’m going to ring his scrawny neck! Get me my whip!”

Suddenly Tyrian felt someone grab his ankle and he was harshly yanked out of the cage. He began screaming before the first blow even came down, and within seconds his entire body felt like it was on fire. He screamed and cried, but the ringmaster was merciless and didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping. Lash after lash came down, and Tyrian felt the familiar hot stickiness of blood trickle down his back and arms.

It was then that the ringmaster’s arm was caught and he turned furious eyes to a beautiful, whitehaired woman.

“Puce, that’s enough, he’s only a child,” she scolded.

“Snow, the little bastard nearly ruined the entire show! We got booed on stage! I’ve never been so humiliated in my life!”

“He’ll learn,” she assured him, “A scorpion is incredibly rare and you don’t want to lose such a valuable attraction!”

Puce sighed heavily and slowly lowered the whip. “You can’t keep defending the little freak. He’s not human, and you should save your sympathy for someone who matters.” 

Snow rolled her eyes at him and glanced down at the bleeding and sobbing Tyrian. “I’d have stopped you if it was  **any** of our animals,” she responded, “It’s bad business to kill valuable property.”

Puce glared down at Tyrian and spat at him. “The boy is getting too old to get away with this! Look at how tall he’s getting! If he gets much bigger, he’s going to be too much of a threat to keep.”

Snow rested a gentle hand on Puce’s cheek and smiled at him softly. “What threat is a cowering dog, sweetheart? He’s completely harmless.”

“He’s just a boy  **now** , but that tail of his-”

“Doesn’t even have any venom,” she interrupted, “What’s he going to do? Poke us with that little needle on the end? It’s barely long enough to break skin!”

Tyrian yelped as his tail was suddenly yanked up and he squirmed in discomfort as Puce inspected the barb on the end. He frowned for a moment and then dropped the tail, clearly seeing no threat.

“The boy is old enough to perform regularly,” he commented, “He used to perform when he was only a toddler!”

“Yes, but now he’s older and it’s likely embarrassing for him to be naked on stage,” Snow pointed out.

Puce glared down at Tyrian, wondering if that was what the boy’s problem was. He’d been getting progressively worse on stage for a while now, and he was sick of it.

“No, he remains naked so the spectators can see how his tail joins with his backbone.”

Snow rolled her eyes. “The acrobats need to speak with you. I’m certain you made your point to the freak.”

Puce stared at the bloody lashes across the boy’s body and without a word, he turned and stalked away. Snow watched him go and then knelt down next to Tyrian. Pulling his head on her lap, she ran a hand through his long and messy hair gently.

“Poor little, freak,” she whispered, “He doesn’t understand that animals are dumb and sometimes make mistakes. You need to obey him, or one day I’m not going to be able to stop him.”

Tyrian closed his eyes at the gentle contact.

“You’re older than he realizes, but soon he’s going to notice you’re not a child anymore. You’re thirteen years old, and you need to be more obedient to him. You’re already too tall, and you need to do a better job hiding your height. If he thinks you’re a threat, he will cut off your tail and there will be nothing I can do about it.”

Tyrian pulled his tail in close and hugged it, and Snow ran a careful finger along the stinger on the end.

“I’ve always loved bugs, little freak,” she whispered to him, “Someday I will take you from this place and add you to my private collection. You will be my most prized pet.”

Tyrian adored Snow and wanted nothing more than to go with her. Freaks didn’t get much choice in anything, but being her pet sounded better than staying at the circus. He felt certain Snow would never beat or starve him like Puce did. Snow was his angel, and he loved her. She was the one shining thing in this hellhole.

“Oh no, you got blood on my dress!” Snow cried out, standing up so abruptly his head hit the floor.

Tyrian looked up and sure enough there was a large splotch of blood on her beautiful white dress.

“I-I’m sorry!” Tyrian whispered, his voice weak from lack of use, “Forgive me, Snow!”

A look of disgust briefly crossed her face, and she turned away. “You will  **not** speak in my presence!” she ordered, “Animals don't speak!”

Tyrian fell silent and simply looked up at her pleadingly. Her gaze softened a little bit, and she rolled her eyes as she ruffled his hair.

“Stay in your cage and I’ll sneak you some supper later tonight.”

Tyrian immediately did as he was told and scrambled into his tiny cage, ignoring how his whole body ached from his beating. Snow closed and locked the cage, and Tyrian watched her walk away, knowing all he had to do was please her and he’d be taken away from this place.

Tyrian had been in his cage as long as he could remember, and although it was much too small for him now, it was home. He had no other memories other than the circus, and the cage felt safe to him. He needed to lay curled with his knees to his chest in order to fit, but he was used to it. The hay in his cage had been recently changed and so it was soft and fresh. Being careful not to shift his sore back too much, he laid in the hay and simply waited for his angel to return.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Tyrian hated the stage, but the more he resisted, the more he was beaten. He was afraid of the humans, and the loud noises and bright lights were unbearable. He would have been content to just live in his quiet cage away from everyone, but Puce insisted he perform. When he was a baby and small toddler, he used to be part of the petting zoo which he didn’t mind, but he was far too old for that now. People were afraid of him now, and he shared the sentiment. Humans were always angry and with anger there came pain.

He’d been feeling incredibly tired lately and his tail was hurting, and he spent most of his time napping in the hay. He was kept separate from the other Faunus due to his young age, but he knew eventually he would be caged with the others. 

Tyrian did his best to appear as small as he could and he walked with a stooped back and bent limbs to appear smaller than he was. Puce wasn’t a tall man and Tyrian knew he was probably taller than him already and he was still growing. When he wasn’t in trouble, he was allowed to wander a bit while the workers were setting up, and he enjoyed watching the acrobats practice. They were so graceful in how they leapt and swung high above the stadium.

Tyrian’s favourite thing to do by far was to crawl under the bleachers to look for treasures. It was dirty and sticky under there and no one else wanted to do it. Puce allowed him to search to his heart’s content as long as Tyrian gave him any Lien he found under there. Tyrian wasn't quite certain what Lien was, but he knew it wasn’t food and that it made Puce incredibly happy. Lien was a little square of plastic that had an L on it, and he often saw people exchanging it between themselves. One time Tyrian had found a little bag filled with Lien and Puce had been so pleased with him that he’d given him a bag of cotton candy.

Tyrian didn’t often get fresh cotton candy since the stuff he found under the bleachers was normally old and shrunk into a hard ball of sugar. He loved tasting all the foods under the bleachers, but he had to compete with the rats and bugs for the treats. Tyrian sometimes ate the bugs as well, the scorpion in him tolerating the taste, but he preferred real food. One thing he craved but rarely had was meat. Someone once told him scorpions were meat-eaters and this was why he had such a taste for it. He always searched for discarded hotdogs, but they were hard to come by.

Tyrian’s long dark hair was sticky from crawling around under there, but he didn’t mind, the treats worth the discomfort.

“Scorpion?” Puce yelled, “Scorpion, where are you?”

Tyrian had been gathering popcorn when he heard the call and he knew better than to dawdle. 

“Scorpion!” Puce yelled again, sounding impatient, “Where did that little freak go?”

Tyrian pulled himself out from under the bleachers and Puce immediately spotted him.

“There you are!” Puce scolded, “Come here at once!”

Tyrian was instantly wary and he hesitantly slunk over to where Puce was standing, expecting to be struck at any moment.

“Tonight, you perform,” Puce informed him, “If you mess this up again, you will be the sorriest little bug on this planet.”

Tyrian averted his gaze to the ground, trying to seem very small.

“You are to pretend to be vicious, and you are to lash out with your tail at the moth. I will then step in to stop you and you will then pretend to attack me.”

Tyrian’s eyes widened, but he nodded all the same. Attacking the ringmaster?! That sounded dangerous, and he was instantly nervous and began fidgeting. 

“Do as you're told and put on a good show and you will get a special treat tonight,” Puce promised.

This caused Tyrian to glance up.

“That’s right, a treat,” Puce said, smirking down at the boy, “One of the zebras needs to be put down tonight, and I’ll give you a scrap before feeding the rest to the tigers.”

Tyrian glanced over towards the zebras and he knew he had to do a good job tonight. He would have to be brave and he would get meat as a reward.

“I’ll do good!” Tyrian whispered earnestly.

Puce ran a hand through his thinning grey hair and rolled his eyes. “You’d better,” he warned, “I will  **not** be laughed at again!”

Tyrian licked his sticky fingers and Puce stared down at him for a moment in disgust.

“Did you find anything for  **me** under there?” he demanded.

Tyrian shook his head. There were no Lien under the bleachers that day.

Puce let out a deep sigh. “Useless freak,” he muttered, turning away, “Go back to your cage until it’s time for the show.”

Tyrian turned regretful eyes back to the bleachers, but he didn’t hesitate to obey as he scurried in the direction of his cage. He wasn’t locked in, but he knew better than to disobey and so he remained in his cage impatiently waiting for the show that night. Tyrian was a ball of fear and anxiety, but his raw hunger made him feel determined.

He watched everything through his bars as the show was set up and performance after performance was done on stage. Finally the workers dragged his cage on stage and he instantly began to shake in fear at the intense noise around him. He wanted to hide, but he knew it wasn’t an option. Several other cages were dragged on stage and as the various bug Faunus crawled out, the audience gasped and cheered. 

Taking a deep breath, Tyrian forced himself to keep his eyes open as Puce made their introductions. Shaking in absolute fear, his tail curled tightly under him, and he couldn’t seem to move.

“Next we have Tyrian, the horrifying scorpion hybrid! Watch how dangerous his disgusting tail is!”

Tyrian stared with wide eyes towards the audience who were yelling loudly and he completely froze. He was on all fours as trained so the audience could see his back, but his tail remained curled in fear. Puce shot him a warning look and Tyrian arched his back to force his tail up. The audience gasped in horror and disgust and he turned his gaze to the moth. He was supposed to attack her. How was he supposed to do that.

“Uh oh, folks, it looks like our scorpion just noticed our pretty little moth! As everyone knows, scorpions and moths are mortal enemies! Hopefully he feels in a friendly mood!”

Attack. He had to attack. Tyrian wasn’t sure what to do so he scrambled towards her still on all fours and jumped at her. As if it had a mind of its own, his tail lashed out, the tiny barb aimed straight for her face. She seemed genuinely startled, but before she had the chance to react, Puce caught the tail and yanked.

Tyrian was sent crashing to the floor, and he let out a cry of pain as his tail was twisted. 

“This is the problem with animals!” Puce cried out to the audience, “You need to show them who's in charge otherwise they rebel!”

Puce lashed out at him with his whip and it bit into Tyrian’s thigh hard, causing him to screech in pain. Puce then released his tail and gave him a nod. He was supposed to attack the ringmaster now… His heart pounding in his chest, Tyrian leapt at him, tail poised for the kill. Puce activated his semblance at the last moment and shielded the attack and Tyrian bounced off painfully. Puce then rounded on him with the whip as the audience went crazy cheering and calling for Tyrian’s death. Tyrian was being hit over and over and he did the only thing he could and fled into his cage. Puce then closed and locked the door.

“See what I mean?” Puce called out to the crowd, “A little force is all that was needed to make him behave! They should try that with the disgusting freaks that are protesting in the streets!”

The crowd roared their approval, and Puce ate it up with a grin, and the show continued as Tyrian curled up, unsure if he had messed up. He’d been beaten and so he must have misunderstood his directions. He stayed curled up for the rest of the show, and even when the workers dragged his cage off stage, he didn’t move.

When the show was over, Puce came backstage and Tyrian instantly tensed up, expecting more pain.

“Good work, freak,” Puce said as he passed by the cage, “I have  **many** things planned for you in future performances.”

Tyrian let out a deep breath of relief that he was safe and he rubbed at his sore tail, hoping it hadn’t been damaged. The pain was deep and it throbbed with every breath and it felt like it was being squeezed all over. Rubbing his hands across the hard shell didn’t do much, but it was comforting, and he liked the feel of it.

Snow passed him by in her beautiful white dress, and he looked up at her lovingly. Snow was one of the acrobats, and she was the star of the entire circus. People came from all over just to see her perform, and Puce was incredibly proud of her. He gave her lots of the little plastic Liens, and he loved to take her to his private quarters nearly every night. Snow did whatever Puce wanted, but it was clear she didn’t really love him.

Snow would someday leave the circus, and Tyrian hoped he would be taken with her. He would be a good pet, and he would be with her forever.

Tyrian pressed his face against the bars of the cage to watch her, and Snow chatted with a few of the other performers, laughing and smiling at them. Tyrian felt his heartbeat in his chest and he wished she would smile like that at him. The thought immediately made him feel ashamed and he averted his gaze away from her. Freaks weren’t supposed to think like this, and it was wrong.

Tyrian looked back up and at that moment Snow glanced over at him. When she saw him peeking at her, she offered him a small smile and he thought his heart was going to explode. She’d never smiled like that at him before!

Snow then disappeared out of sight as she headed for her personal rooms. Tyrian’s tail ached and he flexed it, feeling the shell begin to crack. Running a finger along the crack, he realized he was moulting. It had happened many times before as he grew, but it had never hurt like this before. Normally his tail itched and bothered him a bit, but quickly felt better once he moulted and the new growth was freed.

He flexed again, but he didn’t have enough room in the tiny cage to stretch as he wanted to. Now that he knew what the problem was he was immensely uncomfortable as he instinctively wanted to crack and stretch his tail. He laid there for over an hour, and he felt like he was losing his mind as he fought his natural instincts. When he saw Puce approaching, he did something that he hardly ever did, he called out to him.

Puce paused and then turned to look at his cage with a furrowed brow. “What do you want, little freak?” he demanded.

His tone wasn’t as harsh as it normally was and he was clearly still in a good mood.

“Can I come out?” Tyrian asked plaintively.

Puce frowned. “Why?”

“I need to moult,” Tyrian responded, “Please.”

“Ugh,” Puce said, his nose wrinkling in disgust, “Do you  **have** to?”

Tyrian knew he was asking a lot and licked his lips nervously. “Please, it hurts…”

Puce sighed. “Fine, but you have to sleep with the adult freaks tonight if you’re not finished by sundown.”

Tyrian nodded his agreement and a moment later his cage was opened. Tyrian crawled out and then crouched low to the ground, feeling self-conscious as several people glanced over at him.

“Hmm,” Puce said, glancing down at him, “You  **are** acting embarrassed...perhaps Snow is right and it’s time for you to be clothed?”

Tyrian had never worn clothes and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He’d been left naked his entire life so the spectators could see his entire tail and where the exoskeleton ended and his skin began.

Puce really looked at Tyrian and now noticed how long his limbs were getting and realized the boy was much taller than he’d realized. That tiny cage was much too small for him, but Puce didn’t want to go to the expense of buying a larger one.

“Go do what you must, but you’d better come when called,” Puce warned him. “If you still want to receive your treat later, you’d better behave yourself.”

Tyrian nodded hurriedly and then scampered towards the bleachers, just wanting to hide for a while. Once he was in the dark of the bleachers he felt much better and gave a long and satisfying stretch which caused his tail and audibly crack. Tyrian stretched and rubbed against the wooden support beams and it felt fantastic.

Moulting usually took hours of stretching and flexing his tail to loosen the old exoskeleton, and Tyrian was having a harder time than usual. He was determined, and even tried rolling around, but it still wouldn’t break off. After hours of rubbing, pulling and rolling around, he still hadn’t moulted. He was sweaty, tired and very frustrated when he finally heard Puce call for him. Crawling out from under his dark hiding spot, he saw Puce was holding something and hesitantly approached, hoping it wasn’t something to beat him with. To his surprise, Puce held out a pair of tight shorts towards him.

“Put those on and then don’t ever tell me I never did anything for you.”

Tyrian honestly wasn’t quite sure what to do and held the shorts awkwardly and simply staring up at Puce.

“Are you stupid?” Puce snapped at him, “Put them on!”

Tyrian awkwardly stepped into the shorts and pulled them up, the low cut of the fabric stopping just under his tail.

“There!” Puce announced, “No more reason to be acting so awkward! Come along now, I’m locking you in with the adults for the night.”

Tyrian had never spent much time with the other Faunus and he was instantly on edge, but he didn’t dare voice his concerns. He instead flexed and twisted his tail as he followed along behind the ringmaster, wishing he could relieve this discomfort. He was led into the storage area of the attraction, and a door was unlocked.

Tyrian entered without protest, and the door was immediately closed and locked after him. His gaze immediately went to the other Faunus who had turned to look at him. Tyrian crouched low to the ground and instinctively raised his tail threateningly as he backed himself into a corner.

“Oh wonderful,” Sufjan the centipede Faunus commented, “This is  **all** we needed.”

“Is he even old enough to be in with the adults?” Flicker demanded, looking him up and down with a frown.

“I didn’t think Puce would trust us near his precious scorpion,” Stag sneered, “All he talks about is how rare the little freak is.”

“Don’t you  **dare** use that word!” Flicker snarled, “It’s bad enough the humans call us that, but I won’t allow another Faunus to use it!”

Stag rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, but  **look** at him,” he commented, “The humans messed him up beyond repair. He’s just an animal.”

Flicker stared at Tyrian who bared his teeth at her and shook his tail threateningly. She sighed and glanced back to Stag.

“Rumours say that he was born here and has never seen the outside world.”

“Poor thing,” Sufjan replied, “Just look at how terrible he looks!”

Everyone stared at Tyrian and saw how thin he was, his waist-length matted hair, and the dirt and scars that covered every inch of his body. Tyrian didn’t like the way they were staring at him and he swiped out with his tail to warn them off. Flicker batted the tail aside impatiently, and Tyrian leapt back like he’d been burned.

“Don’t attack us,” Flicker warned him, “We’re not going to hurt you.”

Tyrian didn’t look like he believed her and he narrowed his yellow eyes to slits.

“Your name is Tyrian, right?” she asked.

Tyrian said nothing and backed himself in the corner furthest away from them.

“He smells,” Stag commented.

“We  **all** smell,” Sufjan replied, “None of us have had a decent wash in months.”

The door suddenly reopened and everyone looked up to see Puce poke his head in. 

“Here’s your reward, scorpion,” he announced, tossing a large, striped leg into the cell.

Flicker let out a gasp of disgust as it splatted against the floor, and to her surprise, Tyrian surged forward and eagerly seized it. He began ripping into the meat like an animal and Puce chuckled in amusement.

“What a foul creature you are, little freak. Enjoy your reward.”

Puce once again left and Tyrian ripped and tore at the flesh, all the while keeping an eye on the others. He knew they were like him, and therefore they were a threat to his food. His scorpion side was reveling in the fresh meat, and he didn’t even care that he was getting blood everywhere. The other three Faunus simply stared at him, unable to believe the horrifying sight. When Tyrian had eaten as much as he could, he buried the remainder under the hay below him and then laid on it to guard it.

“...well, this is going to be fun,” Stag commented dryly.

Tyrian continued stretching and rubbing his tail against the wall, but it just wasn’t ready to moult yet. Full and tired, Tyrian eventually curled up to go to sleep. He didn’t trust the others however, and he kept his tail poised even in sleep in case he needed to defend himself. When he’d been still and quiet for a long time, the other Faunus exchanged a long look with one another.

“There’s no way I’m living with this weirdo,” Stag announced.

“Well, there’s not much we can do about it,” Flicker replied, “Ariadne has been switched to the other bug cell for now. If Puce decided Tyrian’s an adult, we’re stuck with him.”

Sufjan hesitated and scratched at his chin thoughtfully. “Not necessarily… I have an idea so he’s never put in with us again.”

The other edged closer. 

“We’re listening,” Flicker whispered. 

“What if we suggest a new sort of act to Puce?” Stag said, smiling wide, “Something a little more...dangerous?”

“What are you suggesting?” Sufjan asked curiously.

“Let me explain…”

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**TBC**

**Comments make the author happy! ^_^**


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